The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday October 26, 2018 (NIV)

Jeremiah 49:23-50:46

Prophecies against Damascus

Hamath and Arpad are put to shame,(B)for they have heard a bad report and are agitated,like[a] the anxious sea that cannot be calmed.24 Damascus has become weak;she has turned to run;panic has gripped her.Distress and labor pains have seized herlike a woman in labor.(C)25 How can the city of praise not be abandoned,(D)the town that brings me joy?26 Therefore, her young men will fall in her public squares;all the warriors will perish in that day.This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.(E)27 I will set fire to the wall of Damascus;it will consume Ben-hadad’s citadels.(F)

Prophecies against Kedar and Hazor

28 About Kedar(G) and the kingdoms of Hazor, which King Nebuchadnezzar(H) of Babylon defeated, this is what the Lord says:

Rise up, attack Kedar,and destroy the people of the east!29 They will take their tents and their flocksalong with their tent curtains and all their equipment.They will take their camels for themselves.They will call out to them,“Terror is on every side!” (I)30 Run! Escape quickly! Lie low,residents of Hazor—this is the Lord’s declaration—for King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonhas drawn up a plan against you;he has devised a strategy against you.

31 Rise up, attack a nation at ease,one living in security.This is the Lord’s declaration.They have no doors, not even a gate bar;they live alone.(J)32 Their camels will become plunder,and their massive herds of cattle will become spoil.(K)I will scatter them to the wind in every direction,those who clip the hair on their temples;I will bring calamity on them across all their borders.This is the Lord’s declaration.33 Hazor will become a jackals’ den,(L)a desolation forever.No one will live there;no human being will stay in it even temporarily.(M)

Prophecies against Elam

34 This is the word of the Lord that came to the prophet Jeremiah about Elam[b] at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah.(N)35 This is what the Lord of Armies says:

I am about to shatter Elam’s bow,(O)the source[c] of their might.36 I will bring the four winds against Elamfrom the four corners of the heavens,and I will scatter them to all these winds.There will not be a nationto which Elam’s banished ones will not go.37 I will devastate Elam before their enemies,before those who intend to take their lives.I will bring disaster on them,my burning anger.This is the Lord’s declaration.I will send the sword after them(P)until I finish them off.38 I will set my throne in Elam,and I will destroy the king and officials from there.This is the Lord’s declaration.

39 Yet, in the last days,I will restore the fortunes of Elam.(Q)This is the Lord’s declaration.

Prophecies against Babylon

50 This is the word the Lord spoke about Babylon,(R) the land of the Chaldeans, through the prophet Jeremiah:

2 Announce to the nations;proclaim and raise up a signal flag;(S)proclaim, and hide nothing.Say, “Babylon is captured;Bel(T) is put to shame;Marduk is terrified.”Her idols are put to shame;her false gods, devastated.3 For a nation from the north will attack her;(U)it will make her land desolate.No one will be living in it—both people and animals will escape.[d](V)4 In those days and at that time—this is the Lord’s declaration—the Israelites and Judeans will come together,(W)weeping as they come,and will seek the Lord their God.(X)5 They will ask about Zion,turning their faces to this road.They will come and join themselves[e] to the Lordin a permanent covenant(Y) that will never be forgotten.

6 My people were lost sheep;(Z)their shepherds led them astray,(AA)guiding them the wrong way in the mountains.(AB)They wandered from mountain to hill;they forgot their resting place.7 Whoever found them devoured them.Their adversaries said, “We’re not guilty;instead, they have sinned against the Lord,their righteous grazing land,(AC)the hope of their ancestors,(AD) the Lord.”

8 Escape from Babylon;(AE)depart from the Chaldeans’ land.Be like the rams that lead the flock.9 For I will soon stir up and bring against Babylon(AF)an assembly of great nations from the north country.They will line up in battle formation against her;(AG)from there she will be captured.Their arrows will be like a skilled[f] warriorwho does not return empty-handed.10 The Chaldeans will become plunder;all Babylon’s plunderers will be fully satisfied.This is the Lord’s declaration.11 Because you rejoice,because you celebrate—you who plundered my inheritance—because you frolic like a young cow treading grainand neigh like stallions,(AH)12 your mother(AI) will be utterly humiliated;she who bore you will be put to shame.Look! She will lag behind all[g] the nations—an arid wilderness, a desert.(AJ)13 Because of the Lord’s wrath,she will not be inhabited;she will become a desolation, every bit of her.Everyone who passes through Babylonwill be appalledand scoff because of all her wounds.(AK)14 Line up in battle formation around Babylon,all you archers!Shoot at her! Do not spare an arrow,for she has sinned against the Lord.15 Raise a war cry against her on every side!She has thrown up her hands in surrender;her defense towers have fallen;her walls are demolished.(AL)Since this is the Lord’s vengeance,(AM)take your vengeance on her;as she has done, do the same to her.16 Cut off the sower from Babylonas well as him who wields the sickle at harvest time.Because of the oppressor’s sword,(AN)each will turn to his own people,(AO)each will flee to his own land.

The Return of God’s People

17 Israel is a stray lamb, chased by lions.(AP)The first who devoured him was the king of Assyria;the last who crushed his boneswas King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.(AQ)

18 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am about to punish the king of Babylon(AR) and his land just as I punished the king of Assyria.

19 I will return Israel to his grazing land,(AS)and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan;he will be satisfiedin the hill country of Ephraim and of Gilead.(AT)20 In those days and at that time—this is the Lord’s declaration—one will search for Israel’s iniquity,but there will be none,and for Judah’s sins,but they will not be found,for I will forgive(AU) those I leave as a remnant.(AV)

The Invasion of Babylon

21 Attack the land of Merathaim,and those living in Pekod.Put them to the sword;completely destroy them—this is the Lord’s declaration—do everything I have commanded you.(AW)22 The sound of war is in the land(AX)—a crushing blow!23 How the hammer of the whole earthis cut down and smashed!What a horror Babylon has becomeamong the nations!(AY)24 Babylon, I laid a trap for you, and you were caught,(AZ)but you did not even know it.You were found and capturedbecause you pitted yourself against the Lord.25 The Lord opened his armoryand brought out his weapons of wrath,(BA)because it is a task of the Lord God of Armiesin the land of the Chaldeans.26 Come against her from the most distant places.[h]Open her granaries;pile her up like mounds of grainand completely destroy her.Leave her no survivors.27 Put all her young bulls to the sword;let them go down to the slaughter.Woe to them because their day has come,the time of their punishment.(BB)

The Humiliation of Babylon

28 There is a voice of fugitives and refugeesfrom the land of Babylon.The voice announces in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God,the vengeance for his temple.(BC)29 Summon the archers to Babylon,all who string the bow;camp all around her; let none escape.Repay her according to her deeds;(BD)just as she has done, do the same to her,for she has acted arrogantly against the Lord,against the Holy One of Israel.(BE)30 Therefore, her young men will fallin her public squares;all the warriors will perish in that day.This is the Lord’s declaration.(BF)31 Look, I am against you, you arrogant one—this is the declaration ofthe Lord God of Armies—for your day has come,the time when I will punish you.32 The arrogant will stumble and fall(BG)with no one to pick him up.I will set fire to his cities,and it will consume everything around him.(BH)

The Desolation of Babylon

33 This is what the Lord of Armies says:

Israelites and Judeans alike have been oppressed.All their captors hold them fast;(BI)they refuse to release them.34 Their Redeemer is strong;the Lord of Armies is his name.He will fervently champion their cause(BJ)so that he might bring rest to the earthbut turmoil to those who live in Babylon.(BK)35 A sword is over the Chaldeans—this is the Lord’s declaration—against those who live in Babylon,against her officials, and against her sages.36 A sword is against the diviners,and they will act foolishly.A sword is against her heroic warriors,and they will be terrified.37 A sword is against his horses and chariotsand against all the foreigners among them,(BL)and they will be like women.(BM)A sword is against her treasuries,and they will be plundered.38 A drought will come on her waters,and they will be dried up.For it is a land of carved images,and they go mad because of terrifying things.[i](BN)

39 Therefore, desert creatures[j] will live with hyenas,and ostriches will also live in her.It will never again be inhabitedor lived in through all generations.(BO)40 Just as God demolished Sodom and Gomorrahand their neighboring towns(BP)—this is the Lord’s declaration—so no one will live there;no human being will stay in it even temporarilyas a temporary resident.(BQ)

The Conquest of Babylon

41 Look! A people comes from the north.(BR)A great nation and many kings will be stirred upfrom the remote regions of the earth.(BS)42 They grasp bow and javelin.They are cruel and show no mercy.Their voice roars like the sea,(BT)and they ride on horses,lined up like men in battle formationagainst you, Daughter Babylon.43 The king of Babylon has heard about them;his hands have become weak.Distress has seized him—pain, like a woman in labor.(BU)

44 “Look, it will be like a lion coming from the thickets[k](BV) of the Jordan to the watered grazing land. I will chase Babylon[l] away from her land in a flash. I will appoint whoever is chosen for her. For who is like me? Who will issue me a summons? Who is the shepherd who can stand against me?”

45 Therefore, hear the plans that the Lord has drawn up against Babylon and the strategies he has devised against the land of the Chaldeans:(BW) Certainly the flock’s little lambs will be dragged away; certainly the grazing land will be made desolate because of them. 46 At the sound of Babylon’s conquest the earth will quake; a cry will be heard among the nations.(BX)

Titus 1

Greeting

1 Paul,(A) a servant of God(B) and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for[a] the faith of God’s elect(C) and their knowledge of the truth(D) that leads[b] to godliness,(E)2 in the hope of eternal life(F) that God, who cannot lie,(G) promised before time began.(H)3 In his own time he has revealed(I) his word(J) in the preaching with which I was entrusted(K) by the command(L) of God our Savior:(M)

Titus’s Ministry in Crete

5 The reason I left you in Crete(Q) was to set right what was left undone and, as I directed you, to appoint elders(R) in every town. 6 An elder(S) must be blameless:(T) the husband of one wife, with faithful[c] children who are not accused of wildness or rebellion. 7 As an overseer(U) of God’s household, he must be blameless: not arrogant, not hot-tempered, not an excessive drinker, not a bully, not greedy for money, 8 but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled, 9 holding to the faithful message as taught,(V) so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching(W) and to refute those who contradict it.

10 For there are many rebellious people, full of empty talk and deception, especially those from the circumcision party. 11 It is necessary to silence them; they are ruining entire households by teaching what they shouldn’t in order to get money dishonestly. 12 One of their very own prophets said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13 This testimony is true.(X) For this reason, rebuke them sharply,(Y) so that they may be sound in the faith 14 and may not pay attention to Jewish myths(Z) and the commands of people who reject the truth.(AA)

15 To the pure, everything is pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; in fact, both their mind and conscience(AB) are defiled. 16 They claim to know God,(AC) but they deny him by their works.(AD) They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.(AE)

Psalm 97-98

Psalm 97

The Majestic King

1 The Lord reigns! Let the earth rejoice;let the many coasts and islands be glad.(A)

2 Clouds and total darkness surround him;righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.(B)3 Fire goes before himand burns up his foes on every side.(C)4 His lightning lights up the world;the earth sees and trembles.(D)5 The mountains melt like waxat the presence of the Lord—at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.(E)

6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness;(F)all the peoples see his glory.(G)

7 All who serve carved images,those who boast in idols, will be put to shame.(H)All the gods[a] must worship him.(I)

8 Zion hears and is glad,Judah’s villages[b] rejoicebecause of your judgments, Lord.(J)9 For you, Lord,are the Most High over the whole earth;you are exalted above all the gods.(K)

10 You who love the Lord, hate evil!(L)He protects the lives of his faithful ones;(M)he rescues them from the power of the wicked.(N)11 Light dawns[c][d] for the righteous,gladness for the upright in heart.(O)12 Be glad in the Lord, you righteous ones,and give thanks to his holy name.[e](P)

Psalm 98

Praise the King

A psalm.

1 Sing a new song to the Lord,(Q)for he has performed wonders;his right hand and holy armhave won him victory.(R)2 The Lord has made his victory known;he has revealed his righteousnessin the sight of the nations.(S)3 He has remembered his loveand faithfulness to the house of Israel;all the ends of the earthhave seen our God’s victory.(T)

4 Let the whole earth shout to the Lord;be jubilant, shout for joy, and sing.(U)5 Sing to the Lord with the lyre,with the lyre and melodious song.(V)6 With trumpets and the blast of the ram’s hornshout triumphantlyin the presence of the Lord, our King.(W)

7 Let the sea and all that fills it,the world and those who live in it, resound.(X)8 Let the rivers clap their hands;let the mountains shout together for joy(Y)9 before the Lord,for he is coming to judge the earth.He will judge the world righteouslyand the peoples fairly.(Z)

Proverbs 26:13-16

13 The slacker says, “There’s a lion in the road—a lion in the public square!” (A)14 A door turns on its hinges,and a slacker, on his bed.(B)15 The slacker buries his hand in the bowl;he is too weary to bring it to his mouth!(C)16 In his own eyes, a slacker is wiser(D)than seven who can answer sensibly.